Throughout his eclectic career – which has encompassed acclaimed orchestral scores for the hit Jeepers Creepers horror-film franchise; the uniquely lyrical theme and underscore for beloved TV series Friday Night Lights, and arrangements for artists as far-flung as Glen Campbell, Rob Zombie, Cheap Trick, Brian Setzer, among countless other projects – Salvay has always gone the extra mile to locate the emotional crux.
Finding that touch point may necessitate creating strategic mayhem with 60 string players, building a mosaic of guitar tones, or conducting a lounge version of a Soundgarden song – but that’s the sort of challenge he craves.
After landing a production assistant job at Paramount Studios with Garry Marshall straight out of U.C.L.A., Salvay began writing spec themes for pilots at the studio, and this eventually led to a longtime collaboration with Marshall Colleagues Tom Miller and Bob Boyett. Bennett and songwriting partner Jesse Frederick ended up writing themes and underscore for a string of hit comedy series including Perfect Strangers, Full House, Family Matters, and Step By Step; creating music for over a dozen series and pilots under the Miller – Boyett banner.
Looking for new creative challenges, beginning in the mid 1990s Salvay began to divide his time equally between scoring one hour television dramas, indie film, and working with recording artists. Television series included Early Edition, Providence, Boomtown, and the J.J. Abrams series What About Brian. He was hired by such diverse recording artists as Everclear, Motley Crue, Rob Zombie, Brian Setzer, and Fastball, among others, to create orchestral or specialty arrangements. In 2001 Salvay won an honorable mention at the Movie Music U.K. Awards in the Best Science Fiction, Horror, or Fantasy Score category for the inventive orchestral score for Jeepers Creepers.
Since completing work on Friday Night Lights in 2011, recent projects have included creating 25 orchestral arrangements and serving as conductor for Cheap Trick’s Dream Police show, which included appearances at The Greek Theater in Los Angeles and a number of other performances nationwide. Salvay has also been actively involved in a documentary entitled The Long Walk Home scheduled for release in late 2013, which chronicles the struggles of Glen Campbell and his battle with Alzheimer’s disease as he is in the final stages of his recording and performing career. This included an appearance as an arranger and performer at the 2012 Grammy Awards. Recent film scores have included Carjacked with Stephen Dorff and Maria Bello, Rosewood Lane with Rose McGowan, and the Victor Salva film Haunted released in 2013.